A number of safety systems for protecting a driver are known in the prior art. In particular, in the case of vehicles such as fork-lift trucks, it is necessary to protect the driver against injury, in particular injury as a result of load and centrifugal-force-induced accidents or roadway-induced overturning.
Although a number of manufacturers provide systems for the stability control of such vehicles during cornering and/or travelling with a raised load, and the overturning immunity of the vehicle such as a fork-lift truck is thus increased, it is not possible to rule out overturning on account of unevennesses in the roadway and driving errors, with the result that it systems which have to be either installed in the system from the outset or retrofitted.
In addition to the abovementioned active systems, the prior art also includes driver-protection systems in the case of which accident protection is ensured by means of a belt, a bar or a specific configuration of the cab.
In the case of a safety arrangement which is known from DE-298 18 149 U1, a restraining bar extends between two adjacent pillars of a driver's cab, one end section of said restraining bar being fastened, via an articulation, on one pillar, for example the B-pillar, of a driver's cab. Provided on the other pillar, for example the A-pillar, is a locking means, which can secure the retaining bar in its closed position.
A disadvantage with this solution is that considerable production outlay is necessary in order to fasten the locking device, on the one hand, and the pivoting articulation, on the other hand, on the two pillars.
A further safety arrangement is described in DE-200 02 106 U1. This safety arrangement according to the above-mentioned utility model comprises a pivoting articulation which is fastened on a pillar and bears a retaining arm which projects into an opening of the driver's cab, the safety arrangement being characterized in that a locking means is arranged in the region of the pivoting articulation.
This type of solution is intended to be more straightforward than the restraining mechanism described above in that, as a result of the pivoting articulation being combined with the locking device, only a single installation step is necessary.
Common to both the systems described above, however, is the fact that they only protect the driver to an insufficient extent against injury.
Common to all the systems known in the prior art, however, is the fact that they have one or more disadvantages in the following connection:                the system is not always effective without the help of the driver when the vehicle is travelling;        the drivers are impeded when climbing into and out of the vehicle or when reversing;        the system is not suitable for all heights; and        the system is not maintenance-free or reliable and cannot easily be checked during servicing.        
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a driver-protection system which, as far as possible, eliminates all of the above-mentioned disadvantages of the systems known in the prior art.